Best Bets – February, 27 2006

Through March 31, JAL Mileage Bank and competitor ANA Mileage Club are offering members in North America double miles on their respective networks.

During the campaign period, double mileage can be earned in all classes on all of JAL Group’s international and Japan domestic flights, as well as codeshare flights operated by partner airlines booked under the JAL flight number.

ANA is also offering double miles on any fare that would normally earn miles. Codeshare flights are ineligible under ANA’s promotion.

Members must register in advance of travel, and the offer cannot be combined with other bonus offers.

Both Continental OnePass and United Mileage Plus have a sweet deal on travel to China this month.

Through March 31, OnePass members can save 30,000 miles — a full 50 percent — on award travel between Newark and Beijing. For more information or to book an award, visit http://www.continental.com

United is offering a restricted award between the U.S. and Beijing or Shanghai, China, for only 45,000 miles through March 31 — a savings of 15,000 miles off the regular 60,000-mile award. You must book the discounted award over the phone, but United will waive the $15 telephone booking fee. There are no blackout dates, but awards are capacity controlled and may not be available on all dates. To book an award flight, call 800-UNITED1 (800-864-8331).

Sometimes, when airlines fight, you win.

Take, for example, the current tiff going on between American Airlines and Southwest. Both have new flights between Dallas Love Field and St. Louis, and both are going after your business.

Southwest got the ball rolling by offering triple Rapid Rewards credits between Love Field and Kansas City or St. Louis through April 30. Bookings must be made online to be eligible.

For its part, American AAdvantage is offering up to 60,000 miles on new flights from Love Field (and Dallas/Fort Worth to Kansas City, St. Louis, Austin and San Antonio.

Choice Hotels has reintroduced its very popular (as in runner-up for last year’s Freddie Award) “Stay Twice, Earn a Free Night” promotion. From Feb. 1 to April 15, members will get 8,000 points — enough for a free night — on each second qualifying stay. The beauty of this promotion is that you’re rewarded with long-lasting points, not a time-sensitive voucher. Visit http://www.choicehotels.com for the skinny.

It’s never too early to think about your taxes, particularly when there are miles and points to be earned. There are usually a number of frequent travel-related tax offers this time of year, with Starwood Preferred Guest and United Mileage Plus blazing the trail in 2006. SPG offers double Starpoints for federal income taxes paid with the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card. Pay online or by phone from March 15 to April 17, and receive double Starpoints on your first $5,000 in tax payments ( http://www.pay1040.com/starwood ). Delta SkyMiles members can earn double miles with the SkyMiles American Express card between Feb. 15 and April 17. SkyMiles members are limited to 30-100,000 bonus miles depending on your tax bill and the type of SkyMiles American Express card you have ( http://www.pay1040.com/delta ). United Mileage Plus members have a chance for double miles all year long when paying any tax through http://www.officialpayments.com

From Jan. 16 to April 30, Priority Club members can earn 3,000 bonus points or 1,000 miles for every third qualifying night at InterContinental hotels, up to ten times, for a maximum bonus of 30,000 points or 10,000 miles.

Registration is required, so log on to http://www.priorityclub.com/3000

Triple points are always a good thing, so we’re pleased to tell you that from Feb. 6 to April 30, stays at La Quinta booked through http://www.LQ.com will earn triple Returns points. What’s more, everyone who registers has a chance to win one of hundreds of SIRIUS Satellite Radio subscriptions in their Business Traveler Giveaway.

Through May 31, Northwest WorldPerks is offering its 100,000 Mile Dash promotion. Registered members can earn points for a number of Northwest and Northwest partner related activities, including flights, hotel stays and car rentals. Hotel stays, for example, earn five points.

Points are converted to miles at the end of the promotion. For example, 1 to 19 points nets 500 bonus miles, 100 to 149 points gets 3,000 bonus miles.

Is it the greatest promotion ever? No, but it gets honorable mention, because Northwest WorldPerks remains one of the only programs in North America to consistently offer the kinds of creative promotions frequent flyers used to know and love.

Check out http://www.nwa.com/offers/dash for more information.

Northwest continues to please by offering bonus miles for next to nothing. Check out their latest Refer-A-Friend promotion, where you can earn up to 20,000 miles for your friends’ travel when you refer them to Northwest WorldPerks. You can earn up to 4,000 miles for each of five friends, and your friends can earn an unlimited number of bonus miles.

Registration is required before May 15. Upon registering, you’ll receive a confirmation email that you can send to up to five friends. To be eligible, your friends must be WorldPerks members (or join the program prior to receiving your email) and may not have earned Northwest miles for travel since Jan. 1, 2005. Your friends then have until May 31 to complete specific activities, like purchasing a ticket at nwa.com (500 miles) or checking in online (500 miles).

Visit http://www.nwa.com/offers/referafriend/ for details.

OK, so it’s not going to earn you a trip around the world, but we thought this little item was creative: In a partnership with Continental Airlines, SlopeTracker, and Telluride (Colo.) Ski Resort, skiers participating in the Telluride Mountain Miles program will earn one OnePass mile for every 100 vertical feet skied. Members who book a four-day (or longer) stay, and travel with Continental, can participate by checking into the Mountain Village ticket office. They will receive an armband that calculates the number of miles earned on the slopes.

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